My wife has operated an in-home daycare for more than 20 years. Like many providers, she tried several childcare management platforms over the years. Some were simply too expensive for a small daycare. Others were filled with features built for large childcare centers—classroom management, lesson planning, payroll, and countless options that added complexity without solving the problems she faced every day.
None of them felt like they were built for providers like her.
So I did what software developers tend to do when they can't find the right tool.
I built the software we wished we'd had all along.
At first, it wasn't intended for anyone else. It was simply software designed around the way our daycare actually operated. Parents checked children in and out on a tablet using a secure PIN. Attendance was tracked automatically. Digital signatures replaced paper forms. Reports that once took time to prepare were available instantly. Everything we needed lived in one place, without paying for features we'd never use.
For the next two years, that software quietly became part of our daily routine. It wasn't a prototype—it was running a real daycare, every single day.
I had considered turning it into a product more than once, but life had other plans. Between work, family, and my game development projects—which were keeping me plenty busy—I never felt like I could dedicate the time it deserved. Instead, I continued improving it for our own daycare, adding features as new needs came up while the idea of sharing it with others remained on the back burner.
Then something unexpected happened.
During one of our annual licensing inspections, the inspector noticed the check-in kiosk sitting on the counter and asked what software we were using. After I explained that I had built it myself and walked through the features, she looked at me and said something I hadn't expected.
“You should sell this.”— our licensing inspector
That simple comment stuck with me.
I had thought about it before, but hearing it from someone who visits daycare providers for a living gave the idea new weight. A few months prior, I had stepped away from active game development, and for the first time, I had the opportunity to give the project the attention it deserved.
If an experienced childcare inspector immediately recognized its value, maybe other providers were looking for the same thing we had been searching for years earlier.
The problem was that our software had never been designed to become a product. It was written specifically for one daycare, not hundreds. Turning it into something other providers could rely on meant rebuilding nearly everything—from the database architecture to security, scalability, account management, subscriptions, and countless features needed for a commercial platform.
So that's exactly what I did.
Over the following months, I rebuilt Wylari from the ground up as a modern cloud platform while keeping the same philosophy that inspired the original software.
Build the features providers actually use.
Keep the experience simple.
Charge a price that makes sense for small businesses.
Today, Wylari is in the hands of childcare providers beyond our own daycare. The foundation has already been proven through years of daily use, and we're continually refining it with feedback from real providers who care for children every day.
Our goal has never been to become the biggest childcare platform.
Our goal is to build the one that feels like it was created specifically for providers caring for six, twelve, or twenty-five children—because that's exactly where Wylari came from.
Thank you for being part of the journey. Whether you're one of our beta testers or discovering Wylari for the first time, we're excited to build the future of Wylari together.
About the founder
Hi, I'm Cory Felts, the founder and developer behind Wylari.
I've been developing software since the early days of personal computing, starting on systems like the Commodore VIC-20 and the Timex Sinclair 1000. What began as a fascination with making computers do something new eventually grew into a lifelong career building software.
Over the decades, I've developed business software, websites, and published games available on the Microsoft Store, Amazon, and Google Play. Whether it's a game, a website, or a business application, I've always enjoyed building tools that solve real problems and create better experiences for the people using them.
Wylari brings together two things I've spent years doing: building software and solving real-world problems. It wasn't created by a large development team or backed by investors—it was built because my family's daycare needed something better, and now I'm excited to make it available to other providers who face those same challenges.
Wylari isn't the product of a company or a team. It's built by one person with real daycare experience—and a lifetime of writing software.
Every feature in Wylari is personally designed, reviewed, and refined with one goal: making life easier for childcare providers.
If a feature doesn't genuinely make a provider's day easier, it doesn't belong in Wylari.
Thank you for trusting Wylari to be part of your daycare. I'm looking forward to continuing to improve it with feedback from the providers who use it every day.